Psalms 137 - New International Version, 1984
Psalm 137
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
while in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
may my right hand forget its skill.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.
Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”
on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us—
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us—
he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
and dashes them against the rocks.